Unclutterer

1. Posted by Rhea - 12/17/2007

   I’ve seen Scoble’s review and I have to agree that the Kindle will be great once they fix some of the bad design. So a few versions down the road I will get one. But not now.

2. Posted by Bethany - 12/17/2007

   I will happily buy one once it looks a little better and it goes down in price. I think it’s a great idea, though. It’s such a great idea for college students. Too bad I’ll graduate before textbooks go digital!

3. Posted by Gayle - 12/17/2007

   If I had to choose between an audio book and a kindle, I’d pick a kindle, despite its possible downsides – simply because when I do “what type of learner are you?” tests, my Visual score is about 18/20, my Doing score is about 13, and my Audio score is all of 3. I find it very difficult to take in and understand audible sounds unless I can also watch the source (lips moving, fingers on a guitar, etc) – the phone is a total phobia for me, concerts are awful, and unless I can focus visually on the source, my mind wanders and it becomes noise.

   Plus, listening to a book just isn’t the same! And the few I’ve tried were abridged, which – ew.

   I’m interested in Kindle reviews, though! I hope we get a few users in here!

4. Posted by rcamp - 12/17/2007

   As of Thursday I will have had my Kindle for a month. My basic demographics …

   1. b/t 35 & 40 years old
   2. My wife is a voracious reader
   3. My son, 8, is starting off as a regular reader

   So, I bought in after reading the manual. Have had it, as I said almost a month.

   Highlights:

   1. Battery life almost as advertised ( they predicted battery based on one person, most likely .. not three ). I need to charge it ( with transmitter mainly off ) about every four or five days

   2. I use it primarily for reading material I DONT want in dead tree form ( occasional newspapers, magazines fun reading du jour ). I do have a goodly handful of mobi books ( no DRM ) ready to go to read.

   3. Wife uses it ( buying mostly ) texts that we BOTH dont want cluttering up the house anymore. Double bonus : the books shes buying are coming in at 40-60% cheaper than the dead tree versions she was buying.

   4. My son happily reads on it. The initial gee whiz factor passed, and he has been spotted reading for long segments of time ( well, 20-30m, which is HUGE for an 8 year old ).

   5. Love the sampling feature of a book .. presuming I get the first chapter versus “authors commentary”

   6. The wireless is perfect …imho, I dont manage it, subscribe to anything, and only use it to grab here and there.

   7. Reading quality very very good. Adjustable, and eye friendly fonts are nice. I would prefer a sans-serif font however on occasion

   8. I have not tried MP3’s or audio books on it … seems a bit silly given I have three ipods in the house, two computers, etc, etc. Cant imagine what it would do to battery life

   9. Conversion service ( I’ve only used the free one ) is fast turnaround … send PDF’s at your peril ( of course amazon warns you its experimental ). Everything else sent though converts well.

   10. Many shouters compained about the keyboard before they had it in hand. For me its totally unobtrusive.

   11. Form factor, case design is fine. I appreciate the rubberized back, for gripping.

   12. Form factor again … either redesign the buttons or let me adjust what they do. Given thier size there’s a limited number of ways you can hold the book. Those limited ways are mostly comfortable, but still…. a four inch long NEXT PAGE button ???

   13. I would like to be able to send and receive kindle items. This seems REALLY silly to not be able to do.

   14. Menus are ok, they stay mostly out of the way.

   15. Speaking of which, since word lookup is so much easier, I do a lot more dictionary lookups than I ever did.

   16. I read Scoble’s review … and have some very short worded responses :

   a. social network ( on the kindle ) … uhh, no. thats just silly. no, really.

   b. touch screen ? no, thank you. again, a very very silly concept given the stage e-ink screens are at. maybe someday, not now. and, by the way, I dont constantly “touch” my current phone, I have speaker independent voice command .. so i dont have to. You now know I dont have an iPhone

   17. Minor asides:

   a. Pay for blogs? HAHHAHA, no. No chance.
   b. Cover is OK, could be better ..
   c. Case geometry makes a reading light a challenge. I had to fall back to folding the cover back on itself, and using a spike LED reading light.

   I bought this thing to read. I’ve clocked through 4 books, two magazines and a couple of papers. Will I get a breakeven based on what I would have normally bought, versus the Kindle plus what I buy through it ? Sure, eventually. Probably less than a year away.

   The secondary benefits of not having a stack of Wall St Journals to recycle, or two or three dozen paperbacks the wife will chew through in a few months to dispose of is priceless. This is UNCLUTTERER.COM after all ! I still buy a dead tree book occasionally ( The Dangerous Book for Boys as a good example ). However, my transient reading material is not going to keep chewing up valuable space in my house.

   So… circling back to a point. It works for my family, period. The design and comfort reading on it is more than good enough to ensure it will be used daily until it falls apart. I’ve love the price to drop, to help justify one for the wife, and possibly my son too.

5. Posted by Sharon - 12/17/2007

   I use my PDA to read 95% of my books. I love it. I always have a book handy when I have a chance to read. It’s small and I carry with me anyway for the PDA functions. Kindle may have more books available but I can only read so fast and so far I haven’t run out of reading material since I started reading this way over 5 years ago.

6. Posted by Beth - 12/17/2007

   I’ve owned the Sony ebook for about a year. I am a fast and voracious reader and I love that I can have more than one book with me and even some for my kids (10 & 11)when we travel. I find it very comfortable to read. The battery life has been fine, though I think not as long as advertised. My only complaint is the Sony website itself. It is slow to browse and the books on my wish list are not often available. If I liked Sci-Fi I think I’d have no troubles

7. Posted by Jim Treacher - 12/17/2007

   Scoble doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Social networking? The last thing I want when I’m reading a book is somebody bugging me for an “add.” And most of the other stuff he’s complaining about is due to the E Ink screen. They built the menu system around its limitations, and there’s no way to do a touchscreen or any of that other flashy stuff with it yet. But if it means being able to read a novel on something that’s not shooting light into my eyes, works for me.

8. Posted by Peter - 12/17/2007

   I personally like holding and reading books. Book are not clutter but, things of great beauty i.e., Books are objects of art. I suppose an Art Museum has a lot of clutter because they hang paintings and do do store them in drawers. Not EVERYTHING is clutter

   I fall asleep or my mind starts to wander with audio books and my iPod is filled with video and music. I have an iPod Classic and will have until iPod touch has any decent amount of storage capacity.

   Why is white such a popular color for devices? Kindle is held in an oily fingers and is going to get very dirty. I love my iMac but, HATE the white keyboard (don’t get my started on the new slim design (that I hope will phased out for a functional model).

9. Posted by Tom - 12/17/2007

   From what I’m seeing, the form factor is the big reason to get it.

   I have a Palm and can convert all kinds of documents into readable format onto it. It’s small and inexpensive new. I can get a used one on eBay well under $100.
   The screen is a bit small, but it’s usable and clear.

   I can get a laptop close to $400 w/ today’s deals. It can convert documents and read most eBooks. It will read documents that no PDA or the Kindle will ever be able to read (CBR?). Plus I can watch DVDs, Videos and browse the web.

   The laptop form factor is a bit large for reading. The battery life is lacking. It’s much heavier, etc.

   Tablet computers will be an interesting competition. Again, battery life, weight and possibly size will be a factor. I suspect the cost will be coming down. I’ve used one before and it’s very nice for reading a book, etc if a bit heavy. And it will do more.

10. Posted by Idiosyncratic - 12/17/2007

    I like audio books, but for me they are completely different type of activity. Well, maybe not completely different, but still, I don’t think I am going to ditch reading all together. One of the drawbacks of audio is that it is so linear… and of course there’s a the thing that some interpretation is done for you by the narrator. So in short for me there’s no sense in saying “I don’t need Kindle, I’ve already got an iPod”.

    But as a friend put it, I think I’ll wait for 3rd generation Kindle. Stability, design, price, you know.

11. Posted by Karen - 12/17/2007

    I like the idea of the Kindle, but I’m nervous about any ebook reader that requires special software to work. What happens if the Kindle fails and Amazon stops supporting it? This has already happened with Mobipocket. Amazon bought it, and then stopped supporting it, so people who bought Mobipocket books were out of luck. I have a couple of Adobe books that will no longer work on my computer – it keeps telling me my computer isn’t “authorized”, and Adobe can’t seem to help me authorize it. Until the DRM problem is worked out, I’m reluctant to spend money on an eBook that might be readable today, but may not be tomorrow.

12. Posted by Cyrano - 12/17/2007

    I second reading on a PDA. I do tons of reading on my PDA phone. Plus, I have a data plan so looking things up online to supplement the reading is easy. In fact, I’ve downloaded quite a few ebooks (microsoft reader is pretty good, but the rights management is a pain – there are other, better alternatives).

    So basically, my ebook reader is always on me, is much smaller than a Kindle, has high-speed internet access, can play videos, mp3’s, and games, can hook up to my bluetooth GPS and give me turn by turn directions anywhere in America, check my email, and function as a PIM, and is still $100 cheaper than a kindle.

    I really just do not get it.

13. Posted by Emily - 12/17/2007

    Do you know that it comes with lifetime service for Sprint’s network? That means you have the internet where you are all the time. It works with Google Reader and Bloglines and other web-based RSS readers, so you don’t have to pay for blogs.

    Read Andy Inhatko’s review (Chicago Sun Times); he nails it. I think it’s great, but not something I particularly need.

14. Posted by Andamom - 12/17/2007

    Fabulous review by rcamp… I really hadn’t considered many of his points – so thanks.

    I think that I could get used to ready from it — but my main issue is that I want 1 device for everything. I want a phone, PDA, Kindle, iPod, storage device (think USB key), wallet (ie. the ability to electronically swipe and buy – then move on, health care cards, IDs, and more), etc. all in one. I’m not ready to carry one more item… Besides, I can go to the library now and rent things for free.

15. Posted by Sandra - 12/17/2007

    Excellent point on the library, Andamom… that’s sort of how I feel about the Kindle. If I want to own a book, it’s usually because I want to own the book in a tangible, sentimental way, so the object is part of it. If I just want to read a book, I use the library!

16. Posted by adrienne - 12/17/2007

    Read the licensing agreement on the Kindle’s books. It’s so restrictive. One user only kind of stuff. That seems a terrible direction for books. I like sharing audio books on disc and paperbound books with my friends- so I’m supposed to give up all that extra use and value? You can’t transfer them to another device, so if you are taking a trip a mid-book and have to choose between your PDA and Kindle, you can’t copy the file to your PDA and have the best of both worlds.

    Read the User Agreement before buying.

17. Posted by Tommy - 12/17/2007

    If I were Amazon, I’d try to bring K-12 and colleges into the fray. Imagine:

    Enroll in elementary school and get your bright green (ala OLPC) Kindle that automagically downloads your text books to it. No more heavy backpacks messing up children’s backs.

    When you get to junior high or high school, you can trade up to a more “cool” version with fingerprint-magnet metal back and sleek touch interface like the iPhone.

    When you to college, just bring your ebook reader with you or send it back to be refurbed into the latest kindergarten model.

    It’d sure be nice if the kindle platform becomes open…so you can buy books from anywhere (not just Amazon). If they keep the prices that low, I won’t mind, but in a closed system without competition, they’ll inevitably up the prices or keep them artificially high.

    Anyway, I’m out for v1. v2 maybe, v3 most likely, v4 definitely.

18. Posted by Zora - 12/17/2007

    The Teleread and Mobileread blogs discuss ebook readers in detail — much more detail than I could put in a simple comment. There are many choices (iLiad, Cybook, Nokia 770, PDA, OLPC, Asus EE, etc.) If you’re interested in the pros and cons of various ereaders, check there.

    I find my PDA a great uncluttering device. I donated several large trash bags full of books to the library once I realized that I could get the same books in e form. Ebooks don’t require shelfspace or dusting, and they weigh nothing.

    I like reading older books (Victorian triple-decker novels, anyone?) but when I want something newer, I can pay for it at Powell’s or Fictionwise, or get it as a library book. Yes, the Hawai’i library system has ebooks you can check out for two weeks. Download them online and they work for two weeks.

    There are still some books that I love as books, and will never let go, even if I have e copies. But … if all books were digitized, the books I love in paper would probably fit on one bookshelf.

19. Posted by K. T. Stevenson - 12/17/2007

    Early adopter here. I’ve been glued to my kindle since I received it and love it.

    While I don’t see the kindle as a substitute for a nice, solid, hardbound book, I do see it as a paperback replacement. I also like being able to carry around lots of books without making my backpack overflow. While it has some version 1 quirks, I’m glad I bought it.

    Some thoughts:
    1) Scobleizer’s review is worth watching just to see him nearly blow a gasket. I think he’s giving it a bum rap.

    2) I’m glad it’s not a touch screen. I routinely threaten people with injury for touching my monitors. I’m constantly polishing the grime off of my iPhone. The last thing I want on my kindle is fingerprints!

    3) The *huge* next page button on the right side needs shortened. Holding/picking-up a kindle without turning the page takes some practice.

    4) Paying for a blog subscription? Riiiiiight. Don’t see that happening.

    5) The cover doesn’t stay on well by itself. Two strips of velcro took care of that problem.

    6) The Amazon converter service works well enough. You can also convert your own books using the Mobipocket eBook Creator. PDF conversion is dodgy though.

    7) Battery life is excellent. (and the battery is replaceable!)

    The Sprint “Whispernet” service on the kindle makes a decent emergency web browser.

    9) Lots of people complain about the DRM. I think a lot of them are opposed to DRM in principle and that’s fine. Given that the mainstream content providers are not going to willingly allow non-DRM’d electronic versions of their work to be created, Amazon has done an excellent job, in my opinion, of making the DRM as transparent as possible. The only place I see it is when I want to let someone else read my book. It would be nice to be able to transfer the license to them. Hopefully that will come out in a future release.

    All in all, it’s very good for a 1.0 device.

20. Posted by Keera - 12/18/2007

    I love audiobooks because it’s like being a kid again, having someone read a story to me. However, not all subject matters are suitable for listening because of a complicated subject or sentence structure, or because of illustrations, and the iPod lacks a way to bookmark specific pages and passages.

    I started buying audiobooks to avoid more clutter in my home, and I want an e-book reader for the same reason. Another advantage to an e-book reader is that I can read in bed without worrying about being strangled by the earbud cord if I fall asleep while plugged in. I’d definitely check out the Kindle – if it were offered to non-US residents.

21. Posted by Omar Shahine - 12/18/2007

    Relying on Scoble for a review of a digital book reader is a bit ridiculous. he is not the target audience for this gadget.

    I have a Kindle and love it. I have already purged a dozen or so books from my life. The way I see it is:

    1) less clutter
    2) no shipping required for books
    3) no trees harmed in the making
    4) I can travel with unlimited books, go on vacation and not run out of things to do.

    They have some work to do to improve the experience, but for a v1 product it’s fantastic.

    And the fact that it’s sold out from now till jan or later should be an indication that it’s probably more successful than anticipated.

22. Posted by Erin Doland - 12/18/2007

    @Omar — I was under the impression that Amazon sent Scoble the Kindle for free to review … so I think he is their target market … I’m just bummed they didn’t send me a free one to review, too

23. Posted by vanessa - 12/18/2007

    I can’t stand audio books–i read much faster than someone can read to me. i don’t want a kindle though, although the paperlessness appeals to me–better for the environment, less “stuff” for me to have–i don’t like the idea of buying a one-function device that is, to put it plainly, ugly. if it were prettier and could replace more gadgets in my life i would be up for it. while i understand why they went with the sort of screen they did, black and white and not blacklit? ugh. what is this, 1993? i recently purchased a nokia n800 for my boyfriend and i think this a much a better deal. he mainly wants it because he reads books in pdf form, but this also has a real web browser, nice screen, etc.

24. Posted by Warren Pattison - 12/20/2007

    Commenter rcamp’s review is spot on. I have had my Kindle for about 3 weeks now, and have been voraciously reading through the third book in a series I have been reading. The book was $5.65, and a quick perusal of books I have lined up are all sub-$10.

    I grabbed a WSJ once, for the novelty of doing it, and enjoyed reading it. I like that you can spot purchase newspapers and magazines without having to subscribe.

    I sent myself my resume in MS Word format. Converted absolutely beautifully, and I’m somewhat depressed I can’t use my Kindle for job applications. *grin*

    Sample of books are huge and wonderful. These alone will prompt me to buy more.

    I have been a pretty regular reader all my life. Not a night goes by where I’m not reading in bed. It just makes me absolutely giddy knowing that I have a device in my hand that allows me to purchase a book and be reading it within moments.

    The screen and readability is awesome. I forget I’m reading an electronic output.

    I do, however, wish the buttons were either smaller or capable of being enabled/disabled. But FWIW – I haven’t found it annoying to have to click back a page after accidentally clicking forward.

    Lastly, a comment that is apropos for Unclutterer. All my life, I opted to buy books in hardback form – for the “one day” that I can stock the multi-story library I will have in my house. This has saddled me with boxes and boxes of books I have to move when buying a new house, etc. Will I ever have this library? Probably not. Sentimentality and a love of books drove my purchase habits. The Kindle has broken me of this. I was afraid I would be sad about this, but I’m not. Now I can save my money and back by not buying the actual book. If I happen upon a book that I would want in paper form, I’ll buy it. Otherwise, it’ll be on the Kindle.

    Off to read in bed!

25. Posted by Scott - 12/21/2007

    Audiobooks are the way to go, IMO. Not only is Audible a great service (especially with the daily digest of the NYT), but you can get thousands of other audiobooks free from your library. Some are downloadable off the library’s website, or you can go the old skool route and pick up the CD version and import. The best part of it is that you can “read” while driving, exercising, walking, or just relaxing somewhere.

26. Posted by Joe Blow - 12/24/2007

    Audio books aren’t reading. The POINT of reading is that you use your OWN imagination to give voice to the words.

    I guess if it’s some kind of ephemera, the value of which would SOLELY be in the non-verbal content — numbers on a chart; headlines about breaking news — then having it read to you doesn’t degrade its value.

    Otherwise, I could NOT imagine being relegated to reading a “real” work of literature by means of having someone else read it to me. So much for it being literature …

    Haven’t ever seen a Kindle. Some day this stuff will standardize enough that I’ll be comfortable diving into the fray. Until then, I like hard paper. Can you take notes on a Kindle, or underline a passage to go back to later, or mark the margin with a big smiley-face?

27. Posted by dkong - 12/27/2007

    I’m never gonna get it unless it comes down DRASTICALLY in price and the books are more like $5 each.

    But as it is, I’d rather have the physical books. They’re a lot cheaper, since you don’t need to spend $400 initially…then you can usually get books for like $5-10 at borders…

    Thus this is just a huge waste of money, IMO.

28. Posted by GetGreg - 01/19/2008

    Hey it’s Greg.

    Great observations about the Kindle, but there’s one aspect of it that I think may win you over: it’s the first electronic reader to offer electronic magazines, which could one day mean the end of magazine clutter.

    Right now the selection of magazines for the Kindle is pretty small. But as it expands, and if they offer a full color electronic version that I can read from my computer, I would cancel several of my printed magazine subscriptions in favor of electronic ones.

29. Posted by Cgillis - 11/25/2008

    I had a rocketbook when they first came out. I can still use it to read books from Project Gutenberg, but not much else. I also have an Ipod and have used a Zen. The zen is great because I can download books from the local library for free. Especially fine when walking or doing mindless tasks. Kindle would be better priced at $200 – books from Amazon aren’t exactly cheap.

30. Posted by Merle - 12/02/2008

    I am a huge reader and read multiple books simultaneously – the Kindle is wonderful for this. I would not be without it. I spend 2 hours per day on the train and find it is must for packing with me. It is very easy on the eyes, lightweight and as mentioned in previous posts, the battery lives up to it’s press.

    I can and do buy books from Amazon’s bestseller list, however, there are plenty of compilations, collected works and individual works that are no longer copyrighted priced at much less than the 9.99 for the first runs. Recently, I purchased the complete Dickens, Life with Jeeves, complete works of Jane Austen for .99 each!

    There are drawbacks: I cannot share my books as I would have in the past, there is no passing them along. Overall, I may spend more in total on books since they are so very easy to download; it is the ultimate instant gratification. I find the location search cumbersome.

    There are certainly many books that I will want to have in my hands, to love and highlight, to refer to again and again and again, until the cover falls off, but for the everyday bus book read and classic rereads, the sample read and the occasional freebies handed out by Amazon, it is well worth the buy. I love it!

31. Posted by Atangel - 04/07/2009

    To Erin, Blogger

    Great post. Voracious reader here, but can’t stand audio books! LOL! But I can see why the Kindle doesn’t make sense to you there. For me it is the opposite. I can’t use an iPod for that role.

    To: Peter,

    I agree. A good book is an intellectual and tactile experience. A typeset work of art. I have books in my bedroom, hidden under the couch (the technical titles mostly), my home office walls are covered in bookshelves. I love the way it feels to slide a book out, flip pages, and decide it is time to read it again. And every once in a while I take them ALL down, dust them, clean and oil the shelves, and reorganize them. Problem. I have twins on the way. Space just became a HUGE issue.

    To Merle: I agree. Overall Cost of Reading (OCR? LOL!) may go up, but you get more book for your buck. Reading more is always better!

32. Posted by C. Rancour - 05/09/2009

    Scobleizer had a HORRIBLE review on his blog! His main gripe was no social networking. Really? The Kindle is supposed to be for reading books, not talking to Bunni_Grrl69 about what kind of undies she’s wearing. Can you visit MySpace via a traditional paper book? So why would you be able to via Kindle? He might as well have been complaining that it doesn’t have a full size keyboard and a 17 inch screen so that he can play Call of Duty with his Facebook buds.
    The Kindle is for reading. You already have your laptop and your iPhone for talking to your friends. Please, don’t ruin every product with angry demands for “social networking”. Sometimes a little alone time can be nice.

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